ch11 v 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
Well here we go again. He has all the money (had to pick the 666 verse) and sex he wants and now he has no need to listen to God. He quickly forgot the simple instructions God gave him in spite of how faithful God had been to him. He absolutely threw it all away. Absolute power corrupts absolutely--unless you are God.
It seems unfathomable that he would lose sight of how much God has blessed him. But it probably did not happen over night, it says as he grew old. So I'm sure the disobedience started small, he probably felt bad about it at first. Maybe even prayed the God would forgive him and ask for help to stop doing it anymore. Then he repeated his sins, but maybe rationalized it so he didn't feel too bad. Then repeated his sins again and didn't even think about how his actions were wrong. Bam he's so far off track he doesn't even know it.
Well I don't have the problems Solomon had with women, I got the one I want. But I think I do have other problems that I've asked him for help with to help me control my behavior... speaking negatively about a particular person. But overtime I have failed repeatedly. Eventually I have stopped praying for help in my weakness and have in fact used the other person's behavior as my excuse. How is that following Jesus command to love others? How am I any different than Solomon? Simple command that I ignore. How will my behavior impact my family that comes after me?
knut
The amount of gold, 666, caught my attention too. I wonder what connection we are to draw from that? Is this the same designation that we are told of in Revelation? hmmmmm.....I believe the bible is completely connected. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a relationship.
ReplyDeleteHe truly did have everything a human male can desire. That is so often the beginning of trouble. In my experience, the people with the least earthly stuff, have the greatest faith. Probably because they have to. They need God to sustain themselves. We don't fall into that camp. We truly have everything we want. If I something I want...I mean really want. I can usually figure out a way to get it. And I'm talking about stuff. Not true necessities. I don't think we are that far off from Solomons heart condition.
To your point, we need to be really careful with the blessings that God has given us. We need to make sure they aren't pushing him out of our heart.
tp